We use direct actions to interrupt the status quo and bring awareness to key issues and different forms of state violence affecting the root causes of the plight of black and brown people around the world.,

We stand against the many forms of state violence: police killings, mass incarceration, poverty and others. We stand for justice for Tony Robinson and ALL Black lives lost at the hands of the state. We stand for community and self determination. We will not stop until we are free.

YGB raising awareness and building community

Groundwork in collaboration with Young Gifted and Black will be holding an action on July 21st, 2015, to highlight the vast racial disparities in the Dane County Criminal system. From police contact, to arrests, to referrals, to sentencing, to incarceration, state violence oppresses people of color and particularly Black people while simultaneously privileging white people.

We need to Free 350 Black people and close the 11 to 1 arrest rate gap to balance out the racial disparities. The other way to balance this out would be to incarcerate 6,000 white people! This shows how drastic the imbalance is and what a big impact incarcerating 350 people has on the Black community. We believe that incarceration is not the answer to our problems, and instead it creates more problems for low income communities and communities of color.

Join us for an action to show these drastic racial disparities where white people and people with privilege will highlight the crimes that they have committed but weren't arrested or incarcerated for. People of color and particularly Black people will highlight how they or family and friends have been directly impacted by the prison industrial complex.

The action will be held July 21st, meeting at the City County Building at 210 MLK Blvd at 3:30pm, beginning at 3:50pm.

Sister Pam Africa, Minister of Confrontation for MOVE (onamove.org) and Chairwoman of the uncompromising International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal (freemumia.com) will visit Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin June 26-28.

Saturday, June 27, 1-3 p.m. Nation of Islam, Mosque No. 3 4202 North Teutonia Ave., Milwaukeemosque3.org/home.html Free and open to the public

Visit with and talk with her at the following event: Saturday, June 27, 6 p.m. Potluck Central United Methodist Church 639 N 25th Street, Milwaukee WI Cuba Coalition, Cuba Caravan visitwicuba.wordpress.com Free and open to the public

The state is proposing to add $5 million to increase Wisconsin's prison population. The fight against the prison industrial complex continues, as we will continue to fight to build the people and not the jail. Join YGB to stand in solidarity with CUSH-Congregations United to Serve Humanity and other people of faith against the proposed resolution.

Our state has waged a war against black people and doubles down on many oppressive policies. Time to continue the fight.

Tonight, Thursday May 21st at 7:00 pm the Dane County Board will be vote on whether to pass Resolution 556 “Investigating Alternatives to Incarceration, Solutions to Racial Disparities and Mental Health Challenges in the Dane County Jail and Throughout Dane County's Criminal Justice System” .
Thank you!! for all you have done to show up to push for this to make it this far!! Come out for the vote today.
Young Gifted and Black calls for the passage of this resolution and would see it as a great step in the right direction for Dane County. YGB and other organizations such as MOSES, No New Jail, NAMI, hundreds of individuals, and a few County Board Supervisors have been working tirelessly for months to get to this point.
Today is a national day of action against state violence against Transgender and Cisgender Black Women and Girls. Too often their stories of police violence, over-incarceration, and criminalization are ignored due to the attention given to the horriffic violence against Black men. As a predominatly women and queer Black organization we see this resolution as a step towards the liberation of Black women and girls as well as Black people of all genders. (YGB will be holding more actions for Black women and queer people in June, so stay tuned!!)
YGB's first action on November 25th culminated with close to 200 people registering and/or speaking in opposition to the building a new jail at the Public Protection and Judiciary Committee. At that time there was still the possibility of building a $130-$160 million jail in a new location or vast renovations. Due to hours of public testimony, conversations with County Board members, public education meetings, and weekly direct actions YGB has been able to shift the conversation. This policy has the potential to move Dane County from the bottom of the nation in Black-White disparities in incarceration, by implementing visionary approaches to alternatives to incarceration.
The resolution moves YGB in the direction of our 4 demands related to the jail:
1) No New Jail: The resolution states that Dane County will not be building a new jail. 2) Free the 350: Workgroups will be charged with finding ways to divert people from incarceration and make their length of stay much shorter by programs such as community-based transformative justice programs, and lowering or ending bail. 3) End Solitary Confinement: One workgroup will make suggestions for how to get rid of solitary confinement in the jail. 4) Black Community Investment: All recommendations for programming or investments must keep Black leadership and interests central, including funding alternatives to incarceration and mental health services that are Black-led.
To make this happen we must see substantial changes from all aspects of the Prison Industrial Complex in Dane County. We know the fight isn't over and will continue to put pressure on the institutions involved including the District Attorney, MPD and Police Departments in Dane County, and the Sheriff's Office.
All Power to the People ###

Meet at the top of state Street on the Capitol steps. There we can make some posters for those that don't have them. we're are going to ring the capital all the way around the building with our signs. Won't be as crazy as the graduation. learned something there. I am new at this and am laughing at my own inexperience. Come join us. Let's bring about awareness for TERRELL. I am a butterfly and I am flapping my wings.

Madison has a habit of good intentions and not so good impacts. Among these we see the countless efforts to reform police systems. Police chief Koval brags continuously about the top of the line vetting and training process to eliminate implicit bias and contributions to racial disparities. Still black people are arrested 11 times more than whites in a city where we make up only 6% of the population; and when young Tony Robinson was having a mental health crisis MPD murdered him in under 20 sec without repercussion.
This Tuesday at 6:30 PM, The Common Council will meet to discuss an oversight committee that will hire an "expert" to review police policies and practices. But if the above is true then the issue is not just policy and practice but that of accountability and power. No matter what the policy or practice, MPD must be accountable to the community; and right now, they are not. This is why YGB and the Madison Community are demanding community control of the police.
We've seen that community oversight groups have no real power; and the "experts" that are hired are often invested in current policies and completely ignorant when it comes to the lives of those most impacted. If we want to see different and lasting results, then we need to do differently. We need community control of the police.
Had it been up to the community, officer Matt Kenny would have been fired in 2007 when he ignored protocol and murdered an armed black man, and Tony would still have a future with us. Instead, Kenny received an award and 19 year old Tony is dead.
Let's learn from what hasn't worked and move toward real change. The People of Madison have decided: Community Control of the Police.
There are two meetings:
The first is at 4:30 PM in rm 201 in the City County Building on MLK to create a recommendation for a 6:30 PM meeting to decide what happens. We're asking that people come at 6 for a short teach in before the 6:30 PM meeting.
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE #BlackSpringWI #Justice4Tony # BlackLivesMatter #YGB

1-3pm: Jail Support 101 training by Chicago Action Medical (street medics). Anyone can do jail support! Participants will share their own experiences and learn how to support protesters in preparing for the possibility of arrest, advocate for people who have health needs in jail, track arrested people through the legal system, care for handcuff injuries and support arrestees as they are released.
3-5pm: Legal observer training by National Lawyers Guild Chicago, NLG Chicago Legal Observer Program. Learn how to monitor, record, and hopefully deter police and government misconduct during events and protests. This interactive training will cover all aspects of effective legal observing and include information on local laws.
Both trainings open to all community members, activists, law students, legal workers, and lawyers. If you are looking for a skillset to contribute to the movement, come to one or both of these free trainings!
These trainings are organized by Madison Nlg in support of the work of all Black Lives Matter activism, and particularly YGB Ferguson To Madison.

Board of Education Public Hearing on Monday, May 18th at 6:00pm at the Doyle Administration Building, 545 W. Dayton St., McDaniels Auditorium.
This is a hearing on Madison Metropolitan School District's recent policy proposal regarding the race-based mascot and logo issue. MMSD will be holding a Board of Education public hearing regarding the newly created policy proposal that requires our school district to refrain from playing other school district athletic teams that have an American Indian mascot or logo. This policy will also require our school district to ensure that all of our students will have a safe and healthy learning environment. This means that our school within our own district will be required to have students, staff, and faculty to not wear attire that depicts race-based mascots and/or logos. If a student or staff or faculty member is seen wearing such attire that person or persons will be asked to turn their shirt, etc... inside out or be sent home to change. This is a unique approach and stance on this issue, as MMSD is the only school in the state who has taken this strong of a stance on the issue. There are however other school districts with similar policies in place.

YGB needs your voice in order to get an investigation by the United Nations as we elevate the conversation of of racial disparities in Madison and fight for justice for Tony Robinson, the unarmed black teen murdered at the hands of officer Matt Kenny of the Madison Police Department

ABOUT US

The Young Gifted and Black Coalition is a circle of young leaders determined to end state violence and raise the voice of communities of color. We are young Black Women, Queer Folks, Straight Folks and Feminist Men who are fighting for Black Liberation. Our focus is on the low income black communities that our core members call home.